Featured Image Credit: Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Stranger Things, Twitter, Social Media
Joe Yates
Warning: This article contains serious Stranger Things spoilers
While the world was counting down to midnight, Stranger Things fans were counting the number of times Netflix refused to load.
The release of the show’s explosive series finale coincided with widespread reports of crashes, leaving viewers scrambling to find a way to watch.
After almost a decade in the making, the final episode landed on the streaming platform and, within minutes, fans began reporting major technical issues as they tried to tune into the two-hour conclusion of the Duffer Brothers’ supernatural saga.
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Social media quickly filled with frustrated posts from viewers who claimed the app had completely crashed.
"NETFLIX CRASHED PLS LET ME IN I DO NOT HAVE NEW YEARS PLANS," one person wrote on X.
A second fan added: "My Netflix has crashed twice already three mins into the stranger things finale."
While another joked: "The last episode of stranger things crashed harder."
Despite the chaos, the numbers show just how massive the finale’s pull was.
After Season 5, Volume 2 debuted on Christmas, Stranger Things shot straight back to Netflix’s number one spot with 34.5 million views.
Overall, the fifth season had already racked up an estimated 137.1 million views since it was first released in November.
While not exactly a main character, Kali appears to die during a confrontation involving Hopper and Eleven, after being gunned down by the military. In response, Eleven kills Lieutenant Akers, seemingly sealing his fate as well.
Eleven’s own ending is far more complicated, as she appears to sacrifice herself by staying behind in the collapsing Upside Down - allowing the wormhole to be destroyed along with her.
However, an 18-month time jump later muddies the waters as Mike tells a story suggesting Kali may have survived and used her powers to create the illusion of Eleven’s death - allowing her to escape somewhere safe, a place with multiple waterfalls, just like Mike once imagined.
The time jump also gives fans closure on the rest of the Hawkins gang as Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max prepare for their high school graduation, playing one final game of Dungeons and Dragons.
Max and Lucas end up together, Dustin becomes the classes' valedictorian and heads to college, Will moves to a big city after coming out, and Mike becomes a professional writer.
The older teens move on too, with Steve staying in Hawkins, Robin heading to Smith College, Nancy joining The Boston Herald, and Jonathan studying filmmaking at New York University.
Hopper finally proposes to Joyce and hints at a future in Montauk.
"We wanted each of the characters to find happiness but in their own specific ways," Matt Duffer told Tudum.
Meanwhile, Ross Duffer added: “She [Eleven] lives on in their hearts, whether that’s real or not.”